Meru to make water tanks mandatory for all buildings

Counties

Meru to make water tanks mandatory for building approvals

Residents walk long distances to fetch water when there is a shortage of the commodity. FILE PHOTO | NMG

Property developers in Meru will be required to construct water reservoirs in their commercial and residential housing units if a law under formulation is passed by the county assembly.

Meru County Water and Sanitation Corporation (Mewasco) is coming up with a legislation that will force developers of new units to include water storage tanks in their plans, said Joseph Mberia, the corporation’s executive officer.

“We are at the drafting stage, in consultation with the county executive and once we are through, stakeholders will be invited to give their input. The draft will then go through the normal processes before being debated in the county assembly,” said Mr Mberia.

He said the law spells out conditions that will force developers to incorporate reservoir tanks in their designs before building plans are approved by the county planning department.

“There is adequate water but the challenge is that most people use it as it flows into their taps from our plant. When there is silting in our treatment plant or say a pipe bursts and we have to disrupt supply as we carry out repairs, people complain that we are inefficient yet we are not the problem,” Mr Mberia said during an interview in his office.